Exception
by skamusic4
Summary: I don't know how this happened. Believe it or not, but I can actually SEE this girl, and nobody else. So of course, I'm not going to let her slip through my fingers. Not a chance. There are exceptions to every rule...so here's mine. IggyxOC.
1. Chapter 1

_**Exception**_

**AN: This takes place after Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports. And wow, I can't believe I'm actually remembering this, but DISCLAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride or any of the characters associated with the books. All right, here it is: **

It's kind of a funny story, really. When I look back on this, I'll laugh. But I'll also probably shout, too. And maybe at some parts I'll ram my fist into the wall, or smack my face with my hand. But that's what makes it a good story, in the end. At least, that's what I always kept telling myself.

_Chapter One_

It all started with ice cream. I know; you were hoping for something more intense. But that's just how it started. A place called Benji's, somewhere in Colorado. At least, I _think_ that's where we were. We could never be quite sure.

We'd been flying for hours, and Nudge and Gazzy had finally convinced Max to let us stop. Well, Angel probably had something to do with it, too, but that's irrelevant.

"Fine," Max sighed, exasperated. "We'll stop."

The gravel crunched beneath my feet as we landed behind the building. I heard random snippets of conversations as we made our way around to the front, but I tried to tune them out. It was mostly just over-excited teens or obnoxious children.

I ordered a jumbo cookie-dough with a waffle cone—my absolute, hands-down favorite. Despite the fact that I couldn't see it, I'd never dropped an ice cream cone in my life. I guess I'm just that skilled. Until today, that is, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Just as I took the first lick of my ice cream, I saw something. A hand. The hand was clutching something, but I couldn't see what. But why on earth was I seeing a random hand?

I blinked a few times, but it was still there. It was mesmerizing, the first thing I'd seen in how many years? I'm not the most spontaneous guy on the planet, but if you were blind and saw a random hand, wouldn't you follow it, too?

Something moved, and suddenly, an arm appeared, connected to the hand. It was cut off just above the elbow, wearing a purple long-sleeved shirt. Okay…? I kept moving forward, intrigued. What was going on?

"Iggy," Fang called, but it was just an echo in the back of my head. "Where are you going, man?"

Suddenly, it disappeared. That's about when I realized that I had, indeed, imagined it. I think I sort of knew the whole time, though—stuff like that just doesn't happen, you know? I shook my head and found my way back to the flock.

"What was that?" Nudge asked. "A trance, or whatever it's called?"

"I don't know." I took another lick of my ice cream, which was dripping onto my hand. Mmmmm.

"Let's find a place to sit," Max said. I kept my eyes on the floor as we walked, listening to Gazzy's easily distinguished steps. He took big steps, but dragged his feet, which not many people did. Usually it was one or the other.

"Are you okay, Iggy?" Max wondered as we took a seat at a booth. I looked up instinctively, ready to say 'yeah, I'm fine' but stopped dead in my tracks.

I saw a girl.

Let me repeat myself, in case you didn't read that clearly: _I freaking _saw_ a girl_.

She was a little ways in front of me, her mouth caked in chocolate ice cream. Her hair was strawberry blonde, like mine, and pulled into two long, tight braids. From this distance, I couldn't tell what color her eyes were, but they seemed to be either blue or green. Freckles were scattered around her nose, and she was laughing hysterically at something. Below her stomach, though, she was invisible to me.

I think that's when I dropped the ice cream, but I'm not positive. I don't think it mattered much.

Quickly, I stood up, tipping the table over on Max, Fang, and Angel. I tuned out their 'what the hell?'s and walked forward in a zombie-like manner. It was like the world just abruptly halted—all that existed anymore was this one girl.

All logic and common sense went out the window. This was too distracting for me to wonder why I could see her, and only her. It was just so…so mind boggling.

I just stood there, baffled, when I got to her table. She stared up at me, sort of scared-looking. Because I'm _so_ intimidating, right?

Without thinking, I gripped her by the arms and thrust her out of her seat. I simply stared in awe as she screamed and tried to get away from me. The hand that I'd seen belonged to her, I noted in the back of my head, the part that was still functioning.

Absently, I felt several people trying to pry me away. Keyword: _trying_. Because honestly, they weren't getting anywhere. My hands were like vices, locked onto her arms. I could see little spots of invisibility that had to be my thumbs.

The girl, who'd stopped screaming by now, narrowed her eyes.

"Let go of me now, or I swear to God you'll regret this," she warned in a cold, angry voice. At that point, I snapped out of my revelry and released her immediately, realizing how unconventional my behavior was.

"I'm sorry," I murmured when I could find my voice. Where the invisible dots used to be, there were now little red marks.

"What the fuck is your problem?" She snapped. It was the weirdest thing in the world—her, completely clear and visible, standing in great contrast to the nothingness around her. I heard the flock coming up behind me.

"Don't mind him," Fang said. "He's on drugs."

"No I'm not." My voice didn't even have any fight in it. It just came out flat and lifeless.

"We'll just be going now," Max muttered, and I felt her take hold of my hand, trying to yank me away, but I held my ground.

"What's going on?" I wondered out loud.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," the girl said.

"I can…Dude. Guys. I can _see_ her."

This was followed by an extremely awkward silence. The girl in front of me had her face twisted weirdly, and I tried to figure out what that face meant. She was biting her lip, and her eyebrows were pulled together as she looked anywhere but me.

Uncomfortable, I realized. I hadn't seen a face in much too long, but I could see that she was clearly very uncomfortable. And confused. Hey, I didn't blame her.

"Can someone please explain what's going on before I kick his ass?"

"I'm blind," I explained slowly. "But…for some reason…I can see you." The look she was giving me told me that she wasn't convinced. Before I had time to comprehend what was happening, she punched me square in the jaw.

It's not like it hurt; she clearly didn't have genetically enhanced muscles. But for a human girl, she had a pretty mean right hook.

"Don't mess with me," she snarled.

"I'm not messing with you," I growled back, just as fierce. Looks are deceiving, I supposed. She just looked so…innocent.

I was still getting used to thinking the word 'looked'.

"He's not," Nudge insisted from behind me. "Well, not about the blind part, anyway. He's been blind since he was, like…I don't know. Really little. Max, do you remember how old he was? I don't. But that doesn't matter, because he'd blind now, right? He might just be hitting on you with the whole 'I can see you' bit, but I wouldn't know." I made a face. Leave it to Nudge.

The girl—I'm really going to have to learn her name pretty soon, because I'm sick of calling her The Girl—looked me in the eye, studying me. I stared back, swallowing my chaotic emotions for the time being.

She waved a hand in front of my face, and I followed it with my eyes. It hurt my head, though, so I looked away.

"You sure you're blind?" She asked skeptically.

"No. I'm not sure, actually. It's just a hunch," I uttered sarcastically. She put her hands on her hips.

"Well. That's weird. But just because you can see me doesn't mean I owe you anything, okay? Nice meeting you…sort of. Can you please leave me to finish my ice cream with my friends now?"

I don't think I ever quite knew what I was getting myself into. Not then, not for a while. But, see, this here was just too much to give up on. I wouldn't let this miracle, or whatever it was, slip through my fingers.

So, guess what I did? In one swift motion, I slung her over my shoulder, popped out my wings, and took off, ignoring the angry, screaming protests from her and everybody below us.

Well now. Nothing strange about that.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter Two_

**AN: The last of my stories to be updated before vacation! Next chapter might not come for a while because I'm leaving tomorrow for two weeks, but I'll see what I can do. PS: Swearing will die down a bit after this chapter.**

There were a lot of firsts that day. It was the first time I kidnapped someone, for example. And the first time someone had called me a 'freaking psychotic douche-bag scum of the earth'. Hey, there's a first for everything.

"That's a bit harsh," I said, my eyes locked on the only thing I could see—her flailing legs. Her nails were digging into the flesh on my back, but it didn't bother me in the least. The fact that I'd stolen this random stranger—in broad daylight nonetheless—because I could see her probably should have disturbed me a little more…but it didn't.

As a matter of fact, I was absolutely elated. This was the greatest discovery since sporks!

"You have a name?" I asked in the midst of her screaming and struggling.

"Fuck off!"

"Okay, Fuck Off, I'm Iggy. Nice to meet you."

"Burn in Hell."

"I don't know why you're so angry. You should be flattered." She drew in a deep, shaky breath.

"What are you doing with me?"

"I have no idea. That was kind of an impulsive move, you know? I haven't thought that far yet." Behind me, I heard the flock quickly approaching. Here we go, I thought grimly. This should be fun.

"Iggy!" Max bellowed. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Well Max," I murmured when she was closer. "I'm pretty sure I'm kidnapping this girl I can see."

"_Why_ would you do that?" She demanded.

"Maybe he really is on drugs," Gazzy put in.

"Wouldn't doubt it," Fang muttered.

"I'm not on drugs! I just miss, you know, seeing stuff. I'm not just going to let her walk away."

"That's not exactly your decision to make, now is it?" Max snapped.

"So?"

"HOW THE HELL DO YOU ALL HAVE WINGS?" Fuck Off shouted, loosing her brief calmness.

"Please don't interrupt, Fuck Off. I'll explain later," I mumbled.

"Her name's Shaylah," Angel told me. "But she prefers Shay."

"What, so you're _all_ stalking me now?"

"Nah, she can read minds," I explained casually.

"You're _crazy_! _You're all crazy_!"

"So, Ig, what do you propose we do?" Max asked, irritated.

"Hmm. Well I guess I propose that we…do something…?"

"You're endangering her _life_ right now. And yours, too. What would you do if a bunch of Flyboys showed up?"

"I don't know…"

"Let her go."

"No." I set my jaw indignantly.

"_Yes_."

"Say I don't, Max. What would you do?" I inquired.

"I'd take her forcefully."

"And if that didn't work?"

"It would."

"But _what if it didn't_? Would you just leave?"

"No, Iggy, I'd stay with you," she admitted reluctantly. "But that's not going to happen anyway."

"Let's take a vote. Who says I should not, not, not, not return her to the place I will be?"

"That doesn't make any sense," Gazzy pointed out. I just shrugged, grinning.

"How many raised their hands?"

"Four," Nudge said. "But we're all, like, really confused and—"

"Excellent. Fu—Shay stays."

"NO! YOU INSANE PSYCOPATHIC LOSER FREAK!" Shay screeched. We easily ignored her.

"That wasn't fair," Max said.

"Okay, Max, listen. You can see. You can see the flock, you can see what you're doing, you can see your own reflection. The only thing I can see is this one girl. It makes me feel like maybe there really is hope for me. I think that we should go find out why I can see her, because that might be how I get my sight back all together." I heard her draw in a breath.

"All right. That makes sense, but why do you need her to do that?" I shrugged.

"A number of reasons. Proof that I'm not crazy, etc."

"Bull," Shay spat.

"She's really mean," Gazzy noted.

"She's just freaked out," I told him. "She'll get over it." I felt her yank the hair on the back of my head.

"I will not," she growled. I adjusted my position so that I was holding her by the shoulders, out in front of me.

"There's always another option," I threatened. The flock knew I was bluffing, but she certainly didn't.

"You wouldn't." Her eyes were narrowed, but panicky.

"Oh, I would."

"Stop it."

"You know, my hands are awful sweaty. They might just, I don't know, slip."

"Stop it!" It was sort of funny, really; one minute, she's trying to get away from me and the next she's clinging to me for dear life.

"All right. I won't drop you. In fact, I vow to personally protect you."

"Oh gee, I'm honored."

"You should be."

"What, exactly, are you protecting me from? I wasn't in any danger until you showed up," she pointed out.

"That's what you think." She blinked.

"_What_?" I shrugged and threw her over my shoulder again. Her furious kicking had no effect whatsoever on me, seeing as I was about three hundred times stronger than her (okay, that was a hyperbole, but still).

"So how much of her can you see?" Max asked over Shay's cries. "What are the specifics?"

"Well, I can see all of her, and her clothes. But if there's something in front of her, I can't see her. Like, when she was sitting at the table, I couldn't see her legs. When my hands were on her shoulders, I couldn't see my hands."

"So what's the rule?"

"I don't know. I've yet to figure that out." Max sighed tiredly.

"Let's find somewhere to stay for the night. It's getting late."

"What about this one?" I asked, nodding at Shay, who was still less than pleased.

"I don't suppose she'd go calmly into the hotel…?" Max's voice was hopeful.

"In your dreams," Shay snorted. "The second I come in contact with—"

"All right. We'll have to sneak her in, then. I'll get a room with a balcony, and we can fly her up." I nodded.

"Sounds good."

The air was hot and damp when we landed, the humidity nearly tangible. I cupped a hand over Shay's mouth and didn't flinch when she tried to bite me.

"Fang, go with Iggy and Shay. Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy come with me," Max ordered. I listened as two-thirds of the flock scurried off, leaving me with Fang and whiny-but-visible Shay.

"Could you stop trying to lick me?" I muttered as she stuck her tongue out again in the hopes that it would make me release her.

"_What_?" Fang asked, alarmed. I chuckled at his misconception.

"Not you." He grumbled something incoherent but let it drop. A few minutes later, I heard Nudges quick, excited footsteps pitter-pattering over to us.

"Okay guys, so Max got two adjoining rooms and one has a balcony so were going to go in that way, kay?"

"Don't you think it will be a little weird for whoever's below us? I mean, if they see us flying up?" I wondered.

"I don't know. We'll just have to be quick and…what's that word? It means, like, cautious? I think it starts with a 'd'. Oh, gosh, it's on the tip of my tongue…"

"Discreet?" Fang filled in.

"Yes! That's it! We'll have to be quick and discreet."

"Vocab word," I noted.

"I know right? I feel like Poe."

"The Telletubby?"

"Um…never mind. Come on." I followed her by the sound of her footsteps, and then flew up when she said to. I have to say, I didn't feel much like a Telletubby, but whatever.

I landed with a thud on the balcony, but managed to stay on my feet. I set Shay down, but kept my hand securely over her mouth.

"Can we tie her up?" Gazzy asked as I ambled into the room.

"Isn't that a little extreme?" I said. I mean, I was already kidnapping the girl. I didn't need to treat her like a hostage, too.

"No, Gazzy's right," Max answered. "Unless you plan on holding your hand over her mouth all night. And she'll escape as soon as she sees the opportunity." I grinned, happy that the flock was on my side.

"I think we should let her sleep on one of the beds," I suggested, feeling generous.

"There are four beds and seven of us," Max reminded me.

"Yeah, and two pull-out couches. You and Fang can share a bed!" Her blush was almost audible.

"Uh, Nudge and Angle, would you mind sharing?" They giggled in response and scurried into the other room.

We ended up binding Shay's arms with one of Nudge's belts, and tying Angel's scarf around her mouth. We were too nice to tie up her legs, so with that, we plopped her on the bed. I slept on the pull-out couch in that room and Max slept on the other bed, in case Shay got loose.

When I finally drifted off that night, it was the first time in a while that I dreamt with sight. And I'll bet you can guess who I was dreaming of.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter Three_

**AN: Home from vacation! Back to my boring house…but also my friends and internet connection. **

"Kill me." Hm, I thought, rousing to consciousness. Weird way to wake up, but I've had weirder.

"Huh?" I mumbled, opening my eyes. I snapped them open too quickly, though, and was stunned by Shay's clarity as she leaned over me. I closed them, and then slowly re-opened.

"I said, kill me. Fly me up somewhere really high, and then drop me."

"That's stupid. That defeats the whole purpose of having you in the first place. Hey, how'd you get untied?"

"Please?"

"Please what?"

"Wow, you're slow. Please. Kill. Me." She drew out the words like I was a little kid.

"No." She shrugged, unbothered.

"So you don't want to kill me? Or harm me, for that matter?" My eyebrows came together. It was too early to think.

"No. I don't."

"All right. I'll cooperate."

"That's nice," I murmured drowsily. "Wake me up in about an hour and tell me again, okay?" And I went back to sleep.

For about five minutes. Subconsciously, I suppose, I processed what she said, and that was enough to wake me up again.

"Wait—what did you say?" I asked, re-opening my eyes, but remembering to do so slowly this time.

"I'll cooperate," she drawled condescendingly. "Do you understand? Cooperate means that I'll go along with—"

"How come you'll cooperate, all of the sudden? I thought I was a scum of the earth, or something."

"Well, you are. But, see, my life is really boring. So I'll go along with whatever you're doing. But if you try to hurt me, I swear to God I'll pluck out your kind-of-blind eyes in the night." I winced.

"You're a sick little girl," I stated.

"With forks," she hissed.

"Ew!"

"Yeah. I'd do it."

"I believe you. So how exactly did you get untied?"

"Why don't you ask the seven self-defense classes I took?"

"Seven? Who needs seven?" She glared at me like I'd insulted her. Gee, what an offensive statement.

"Listen," she said through clenched teeth. "If I'm going to go along with this, you've got to _try_ to stop being a complete idiot. Got it?" I made a face.

"I think I'm the one calling the shots here," I said. "In case you forgot, I'm way stronger than you. And my friends and I can fly. So we can drag you forcefully where ever we want to go."

"And I could get you arrested," she countered.

"We should have been arrested a long time ago." I laughed, causing her to send me her most volatile glower yet.

"You are such an immature little freak." I rolled my eyes.

"You're so grumpy. Loosen up. It's not like I'm holding a knife to your throat." She gave me the strangest look before turning her back to me.

"Hey, where's everybody else?" I wondered.

"Asleep."

"What time is it?"

"Nine."

"Gah!" I scoffed "Why'd you wake me up so early?" She turned back around just so that she could shoot me another look.

"Early? I usually wake up at six! Don't you go to school?" I chuckled, shaking my head.

"No. We tried that once, but it wasn't really our thing." Shay looked astounded.

"So you just...stopped going?"

"Yeah. I mean, there were some other factors, too. But ultimately, we don't do well in schools. Heh, those teachers hated me so much..." I grinned, remembering the stink bomb Gazzy and I hate set off...But then the teachers ended up evil. What a shame.

"They aren't the only ones." I pretended to be hurt.

"You don't mean _you_, right?" I asked innocently, widening my eyes.

"Iggy," Max mumbled from across the room. "Go back to sleep." Shay smirked.

"Yeah," she said. "Go back to sleep." I shrugged—that seemed like a dandy idea.

So, I went back to sleep, just like that. Nine was _way_ too early, anyway. I hadn't waken up that early in forever.

I don't know how much later it was when I woke up again. Someone was shaking my shoulders.

"Waaaaake up Iggy!" Gazzy demanded. "Cooooome on!"

"What is it?" I mumbled blearily.

"Remember that metal we were looking for last week? It was, like, a really good electricity conductor? You found it online but it was too much money? I don't remember what it's called but you told me how it feels?" My eyes widened.

"Where is it?"

"Guess!" I thought for a second.

"Hinges?"

"No!"

"I give up. Where is it?"

"You'll never believe this. It's on the _rim of the light_!"

"Are you sure that's it?"

"Yes!" My heart thudded irregularly. The fact that a certain type of metal was enough to get my pulse racing probably made me a total science geek, but whatever. I launched myself out of bed, not bothering to put a shirt on.

"Tell me where," I demanded.

"Okay, stand on Max's bed," he instructed. I did so. "Now, reach..." I felt the rough ceiling with my hand.

"Right or left?" I asked.

"Okay, go right...now stop! Slowly move back..." My fingers brushed over a cold, smooth surface.

"This isn't it," I said sadly, disappointed. "This is just bronze. Or brass, I can't be sure. It's too smooth."

"No! That's the outermost rim. There's a thin layer of it right next to it!" I felt around briefly—

"My God! That's it!" I exclaimed. That was definitely it. I was sure. I felt a rush of pure excitement, and I jumped up in spite of myself.

And lost my balance.

Just as the door opened.

Incidentally, it happened to be Shay, who already hated me. And of course, with my luck, I happened to topple over at the exact second she walked in, right on top of her.

I heard the breath rush out of her in a whoosh, but somehow, seconds later, she was shrieking.

She managed to place her feet on my stomach and push, knocking the wind out of me. It must have been those seven self-defense classes. I landed on my wing, feeling it bruise.

"What was that for?" I wheezed.

"You jumped on me!"

"No, I _fell_ on you."

"What were you doing up on that bed?"

"Funny you should ask. I was actually practicing my exotic belly-dancing." She blinked, thinking I was serious.

"Oh God. Wow." She looked horrified.

"He's really good at it, too," Gazzy put in. "I hope one day _I'll_ be able to move my hips like that!" Shay's face went pale, like she was about to vomit. She stood up quickly, smoothing out her shirt.

"I'll...leave you to that," she mumbled awkwardly before backing into the other room.

"Okay, come on Ig, quickly," Gazzy said. Now that I knew where the light was, my hands found it with ease.

I spun the first, smooth rim left until it popped off. I set it down lightly, knowing that we couldn't have Max hearing. She would come in and tell us that we shouldn't dismantle a hotel room, or something irrational like that.

The metal that we wanted wouldn't come off as easy, as it was bolted to the ceiling.

"Did you bring the screwdriver?" I asked, trying to pry it loose.

"No. Sorry. I brought the crowbar, though."

"Okay, that'll work. Go get it."

"Right. Be right back." I heard a door open, and then close. A few seconds later, I heard a muffled conversation.

"What do you need that for?" That was Shay's voice.

"Um, Iggy's exotic dancing! We could always use props." I felt the corners of my mouth twitch up as the door opened again.

"Crowbar," I said, reaching down. The rusty tool was pressed into my palm. I squeezed the bar under the metal, and methodically worked around it.

"Um, Ig?" Gazzy asked, his voice nervous.

"Almost done," I said.

"No, I think we should—" He was cut off when a big hunk of the ceiling clipped my shoulder.

"Run!" He finished. We rushed out of the collapsing room...but not before I yanked off the metal and shoved it down my pants.

"Do you have to do that every time we steal something?" Gazzy muttered as we ran into the adjoining room that held the rest of the flock.

"What did you do now?" Max asked.

"They said they were exotic dancing," Shay said, and I didn't miss the disturbed glint in her eye.

"It got intense," I said. "But now we have to get out of here." A bang echoed behind me. "Like, now."

"Everywhere we go!" Max exclaimed. "Somehow, you two always manage to destroy everything!"

"It's just a hotel."

"Yeah. Just a hotel that I was hoping we could relax at for at least a little bit while we sort things out. Guess we'll just have to do it midair _as always_." I ignored her ranting as we ran out of the hotel. I followed the sound of Gazzy's weird steps, but jumped a second too late and broke the railing of the balcony. Oh well.

"You guys can never go without breaking something, can you?" Max went on as we took flight. Her voice was coming from just behind Shay, so I figured she was carrying her. "What'd you do this time? Set off yet another bomb?"

"What, is it your time of month, or something? You've never had a problem with us in the past," I pointed out.

"I'm just tired of your antics."

"We didn't actually set anything off," Gazzy said somewhat defensively. "We just stole—"

"Nothing," I interrupted. "I accidentally...threw Gaz into the wall."

"While you were belly dancing?" Shay inquired, arching an eyebrow. I grinned and winked.

"Yes. While I was belly dancing. He got a bit too close."

"You shouldn't be smiling," Max snapped, and I heard the surge of her wings as she and Shay were jolted forward.

"Women," Gazzy mumbled. "How come you don't want Max to know that we stole that metal?" I thought for a second.

"Well, for one she's already mad enough. And for two, I don't want to seem like a _total_ villain."

"It wouldn't be the first time you stole something," he pointed out.

"He's doesn't want to look bad in front of Shay," Fang said. I felt my cheeks redden.

"Liar."

"See?" He said to Gazzy. "He doesn't even know he's doing it."

"Why'd he tell her he was belly-dancing then?"

"It makes him feel badass."

"Shut up!" I nearly shouted.

"Badass is a bad word," Gazzy told Fang. "You should say BA instead."

"I don't like her," I said indignantly, leaving Fang and Gazzy behind me to think what they wanted. And I meant it. She was stubborn and annoying. And indecisive. And, well, kind of a bitch.

But I could see her. So I had to put up with it.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter Four_

**AN: Hey, chapters will come quicker after I finish my other fanfiction and the end-of-summer/beginning-of-school hecticness dies down. Sorry for the minor delays. :]**

I hate to admit it, but I was disappointed when I couldn't see Shay. I mean, I wasn't disappointed that I couldn't talk to her, but I just missed having a point of reference. So when she and Max flew ahead of me, and I could only see brief glimpses of a hand or foot here and there, it annoyed me.

But flying up to get a better look would be like inviting Max to lecture me, which was extremely annoying. I mean, seriously, we destroyed one measly little hotel room. Get over it already!

"Where are we going?" Gazzy asked when he caught up with me. I shrugged; apparently, it wasn't up to me. Well, it never was, but I wish I'd get at least a little say in this one considering it revolved around me.

"Max!" He shouted, and she must have turned, because now I could see Shay's whole right half.

"What?"

"Where are we going?"

"Mom's house!"

"Okay!"

"How come we're going to Mrs. Martinez's house?" I wondered out loud.

"I don't know," Gazzy responded. Then, louder, "Max! How come we're going there?"

"Because I said so!"

"Okay!" He lowered his voice and said, "Because she said so."

"I heard her Gaz. Why can't we go somewhere more productive? Like, the School or something?"

"HEY MAX IGGY WANTS TO KNOW WHY WE CAN'T GO SOMEWHERE MORE PRODUCTIVE LIKE—" Gazzy began shouting.

"TELL IGGY I SAID MY MOM CAN HELP!" Max snapped, her voice a faint echo.

"Iggy, Max says—"

"Tell Max I asked how."

"MAX IGGY WANTS TO KNOW HOW!"

"TELL IGGY I SAID I'LL TELL HIM WHEN WE GET THERE!"

"Max says—"

"Tell Max I said that by then it would be too late and I therefore would not be able to persuade her to go elsewhere." Gazzy was quiet for a minute. "Well?"

"I can't remember all that Iggy," He admitted. "What does persuade mean?" Before I could repeat myself and explain what 'persuade' meant, Fang flew by, muttering "land". I gritted my teeth but flew downward anyway, afraid of flying off somewhere alone. Sure, I could get cocky sometimes, but let's face it: I wouldn't last an hour without the flock.

"Max?" I heard Dr. Martinez ask, bewildered. We'd stopped here several times since Max had discovered that she was her mom, yet she always had that confused tone in her voice. Only now was it really necessary. "Who's this?" Max sighed.

"It's a long story. Can we come in?"

"Well of course! It's always a pleasure to have you, Max. Come on in!" I couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of annoyance at Dr. Martinez's over-excited disposition. I know I was just being spiteful because _I_ didn't have anybody like that, and I was sincerely happy that Max had found her mom, but still. It felt like they were rubbing it in my face.

Once inside, Dr. Martinez told us to sit around her big dining table as she stirred up a batch of cookies (Max's obsession). I stared at Shay, who seemed to awkwardly be taking in the house. I wondered what it looked like, exactly. From my experience, I knew where most of the things were, and that it always smelled like some type of food, but I obviously had no idea what it actually looked like.

"So," said Dr. Martinez. "Care to explain?"

"Take it away, Iggy," Max said, clearly still put out with me. I reddened slightly, uncomfortable being the center of attention.

"I can see her," I stated, my eyes locked with Shay's as I said this. She seemed annoyed at my staring, but where else did I have to look? The doctor was silent for a moment, thinking.

"See…how?"

"Huh? I can just see her. Like, she has strawberry blonde hair, pale skin, green eyes, freckles, naturally red cheeks. And she likes to glare at me, too." I grinned as she proved that last point.

"How…where did you find her?"

"This ice cream place."

"And she willingly came along?" I smiled satanically.

"Absolutely," I lied easily.

"Iggy," Dr. Martinez started, but was interrupted when the door flung open and audibly collided with the wall.

"MOM BOYS ARE STUPID AND THEY SHOULD ALL BURN IN—Oh. Hey Max and…company…I'll be in my room," Ella sputtered, and we listened to her frantic footsteps shuffle off to her room. The doctor sighed.

"Wait right here," she said, as if we had anywhere better to be.

"Oh my God," Nudge said as soon as Dr. Martinez left the room. "Ella totally has a crush on Iggy!" My eyes widened, and my face temperature rose a considerable amount of degrees.

"Hard to imagine why," Shay muttered.

"Does not," I mumbled, embarrassed.

"Does too!" Nudge argued. "She was totes' looking right at you. And remember that one time when she was like 'hey Iggy' and you were all 'hey Ella'? That was love there, love!" I rolled my eyes, the wave of embarrassment gone as quickly as it had come. Nudge was going threw her 'everybody has to be paired up with somebody' phase, and we were all sure it would pass soon. Hopefully.

Because Max was accustomed to Nudges antics, she took my side for once. "Nudge, just because two people are relatively the same age and opposite genders does not mean they are in love," she said. I grinned when I remembered that Nudge had been hounding Max and Fang for the past couple weeks.

"That may be true," Nudge said slowly. "But you and Fang and Iggy and Ella should still go on a date. Oooooh a double date! Just like on that one show that I watched that one time!" Nobody really took her seriously when she said things like this anymore—well I didn't, and I assumed Max and Fang didn't either—yet Gazzy still felt the need to comment further.

"Iggy? On a date?" He snorted, like this was the most ludicrous thing he'd ever heard. Well, actually, it probably was. "This is a guy who currently has a stolen hunk of metal down his—oh, wait, we were keeping that a secret." I felt a surge of annoyance as I felt all eyes turn on me. I whistled Jingle Bells, pretending not to notice.

"What were we talking about?" I asked nonchalantly. "Max and Fang confessing their undying love?"

"Iggy, what did you steal?" Max asked through her teeth. I raised my eyebrows.

"Huh? Me? Steal? You're crazy."

"Hand it over," she ordered.

"Oh, you don't want it now," I responded calmly.

"What did he take, Gazzy?" She asked, giving up on me.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Iggy told me not to tell. I have to pee," he sputtered quickly.

"Gazzy…"

"The Gasman is unable to take your call at the moment," he said, sounding precisely like an answering machine. "Please leave a message after the tone."

"Just tell me where you took the metal from. It's not like I can take it back." She had a point. I sighed and took the light-rim out of my jeans, surprised that nobody had seen it yet.

"I took it off the light," I admitted, trying so hard not to sound smug.

"So let me get this straight. You destroyed a hotel room…to get that?"

"You're so screwed," Fang mumbled from my left.

"Yup, pretty much," I replied to Max, ignoring Fang.

"Oh my G—"

"Whoa," Shay interrupted. "What are all those guys doing on your lawn?" I didn't have to see to know what was going on. I gripped tightly onto the metal, starting to concoct a plan even before Max said the word.

"Flyboys."

Shay's POV

Fly…what? I watched the group jump up at once, like it was rehearsed. Iggy and the weird little boy—Gazzy—whispered some things and took off down a hallway. The doctor lady and the girl who'd come in came into the kitchen with frantic expressions.

"They're surrounding us," the doctor said. Max, who seemed to be in charge of everybody, nodded relatively calmly, thinking.

"What's going on?" I wondered. Nobody acknowledged me, and frankly, it pissed me off.

_It's okay Shay, we'll take them down_. I blinked and looked around, wondering if I was hearing things. But it didn't seem like I'd heard that…

Damn, I knew I was going crazy. These insane people's insane ways were rubbing off on me.

"No, I said it," the little freaky girl said. "Hey, I'm not freaky." My eyes widened in astonishment. "I already told you I can read minds. I can talk through them too." I blinked and shook my head, incredulous.

_See?_

"This is too crazy," I said out loud. "But then again, you _do_ have wings."

_Don't worry, I won't snoop through you're thoughts. Most of the time. Max told me that was mean_. I nodded absently, still having the vague idea of my sanity slipping away. I decided to take advantage of the fact that someone was talking to me.

"So, what's going on?" I asked. The little girl glanced out the window, at the converging men…things.

"Those aren't men," she said. "They're flying robots, who want to either kill us or take us somewhere. We call them Flyboys. I'm guessing they want to kill us. But we can take them, just try to stay by Dr. Martinez and Ella. That way, we can protect all of you at once."

I blinked once again. There were robots…who wanted to kill the people I was with.

What the hell had I gotten into?


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter Five_

**AN: School. Is. Starting. Tuesday. Enough said. D: **

"I _knew_ this would come in handy!" I exclaimed, putting the finishing touches on our bomb. It would make a _huge_ explosion, that much I was sure of. It was probably our biggest, most powerful one yet.

"How many Flyboys do you think this will take out?" Gazzy wondered, excited. I shrugged.

"Hopefully enough." We hurried down the corridor, hearing the voices of the flock escalating.

I knew we were back at the kitchen, because I could see Shay. _Shay_. I totally forgot about her! I didn't like her very much, but I still felt a bit guilty about dragging her into our intense lives.

She was standing uneasily, picking at her nails. Her eyes darted around frantically until they found me and narrowed.

"You neglected to tell me that you're wanted by psycho robots," she hissed when I got close enough.

"I'm wanted by a lot of people," I joked half-heartedly, but it had no effect on her whatsoever. Her glare just became more pronounced.

"Not only did you kidnap me, but now my life is at stake, too. If I get hurt, I'll hold you personally responsible."

"You won't get hurt," I assured her, but she just rolled her eyes.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Yeah. Because we've been fighting something or another since we were little kids. These guys are hardly a threat."

"Look at them!" She shouted in my face.

"I can't," I stated simply.

"There's _tons_ of them. They're _surrounding_ us." I shrugged, and held up my bomb.

"What's that?" She asked suspiciously. I winked.

"Oh, you'll see." I felt so badass.

"Iggy, how long do we have after you activate that?" Max asked from somewhere to Shay's right.

"Approximately seven and a half seconds."

"Seven and a half? That's sort of a weird time."

"That's just how it works. So, what's the plan?"

"There's a field across the street. We'll fly over there, so you don't end up starting my mom's house on fire. Somebody will stay here in case the Flyboys go after Mom, Ella, or Shay. Once we've lead them to the field, you'll activate the bomb, and we'll take out as many as we can, and then a second before it detonates, we'll fly up and away. If it doesn't take them all out, we can take the rest out ourselves."

"You might want to make that two seconds before it explodes," I said.

"It's that big?" I beamed and nodded proudly.

"You made a bomb?" Shay clarified nervously. Clearly, she wasn't used to having someone around who could practically pull bombs out of thin air.

"Yep. It's my specialty." She just shook her head, like bickering with me wasn't even worth it anymore.

"Ready?" Max called out.

"I'll stay here and guard the normal people!" Angel offered.

"All right. Come on!"

Gazzy and I messed with the wires for a brief second, then set the bomb on the ground in front of us. This was going to be so _epic_.

"Seven seconds!" I shouted. I heard a Flyboy come up behind me, and punched it swiftly under its head, then gave it a quick drop-kick. I had enough time to punch one more out before the five seconds was up, and we had to fly up.

"Up and away!" Max called. The five of us shot into the sky, pumping as hard as we could. Being caught in the middle of this would not be pleasant, I can assure you that.

_Two_, I counted in my head as we hurried up. Each surge of my wings blasted me further and further up. The wind beat at my face, whipping my hair in front of my eyes, but it's not like that really fazed me.

_One_—

The explosion was deafening. A rush of hot air hit me from underneath, flinging me even higher into the sky. My whole lower half was taken over by a numbing sensation, and I felt like a popped balloon as I rapidly gained altitude.

"Holy shit!" Fang shouted over the roar of the explosion. I grinned in pride, even though my legs were tingling with heat.

"My legs feel like they're on fire!" I exclaimed. Adrenaline filled my every nerve: a feeling I'd never get tired of as long as I lived.

"IGGY YOUR LEGS _ARE_ ON FIRE!" Nudge screamed. I shrieked, suddenly feeling the sharp flames nipping at my ankles. And damn, it _hurt_.

"AHHHH! STOP DROP AND ROLL! WAIT I CAN'T DO ANY OF THOSE! SHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT! SOMEONE CALL 9-11! GAH MAKE IT STOP! FUCK, IT BURNS! I NEED A FIRE EXTINGUISHER! IS THERE ANY HOSES? OH MY—okay it's better now." I relaxed as the fire simmered out on its own. My throat hurt a bit from all the screeching.

"You should probably wear shorts next time we set off a bomb," Gazzy said, and I rolled my eyes.

"My ankles still hurt," I mumbled, frowning. Fang laughed. Yeah, Fang can laugh, who knew?

"Dude, it was, like, a tiny flame at the bottom of your pants," he said.

"It _hurt_," I argued, feeling considerably embarrassed.

"This reminds me of that time when I tried to light the grill," Nudge said as we took a few moments to chill in the sky and regroup. "Remember that? When that leather glove I was wearing caught on fire? And I was like, 'My hands on fire!' and Max was all, 'go get water!' and Gazzy almost poured gasoline on it? That was _so_ funny." I raised an eyebrow; _the things Nudge finds funny_…

"I still don't get why you were wearing leather gloves to barbeque," Gazzy muttered. "And come on, how was I supposed to know gas would make it better. It's _liquid._ And besides, in my experience, gas usually makes things better."

"You are clearly very passionate about this topic," I smirked.

"I am," he scoffed. "Nobody will let me live that down."

"If we're all done with our reminiscing, we should probably head back to the house," Max said. "I think we took out all of the Flyboys, but just in case."

I nodded, and followed the sound of their flapping wings back to the house.

Third person POV

The flock made their way to the house, which was a pitiful sight. Iggy and Gazzy's bomb had made an explosion that was slightly bigger than they predicted. The front lawn was charred, and all the windows were blown in. When Max tried the door, she discovered that the knob was still hot.

"I guess you weren't lying about that metal," she muttered, pulling her sleeve over her hand and trying again. Iggy just shrugged, and hobbled inside behind the rest, his ankles still in very much pain.

Once inside, it wasn't too bad, except for the glass from the windows that seemed to cover everything.

"Whoa, sorry Mom," Max called out. Mrs. Martinez, Angel and Ella came out from behind the dining table, which was on its side and pressed against the wall. Angel looked immensely guilty, but nobody seemed to notice, seeing as they were too preoccupied with the condition of the house.

"Oh jeez, did that hit you guys?"

"No, no, we used it as a shield, but Max—" Max wouldn't let her mother finish, feeling horrible about her mom's house. It didn't rain much in Arizona, but there were still bugs and creepers and what not to take into consideration. A house without windows would never go over well.

"I'm really sorry about the windows; we'll come over and help you get new ones—"

"Listen, Max, we have bigger problems than the windows." Max raised an eyebrow, not putting things together. Iggy beat her to it.

"Wait, where's Shay?" He wondered, his blind eyes wandering aimlessly.

"That's the problem," Dr. Martinez admitted, her forehead creased. "They took her. They took Shay."

**AN: A sort of short chapter, but I felt like this was a good spot to stop. Heh heh, spot and stop have the same letters, just arranged differently. Anyone else notice that?...Wow, I'm so easily amused….**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

**AN: I'm sorry I've been seriously neglecting this story! I'm writing several other stories at the same time, but that's no excuse. This chapter's rather short, but I've been keeping you waiting long enough, so at least it's something :/ **

My mind was reeling.

Why would they take Shay? She was just a normal girl! A normal girl who I could see, but a normal girl nonetheless. I didn't know much about her, but I knew that she had no idea people like me existed before I kidnapped her. She definitely did not deserve to be taken by Flyboys.

It was my fault. I took her, therefore claiming responsibility over her. And I failed to protect her, so now it was my fault that those wretched Flyboys took her. I couldn't stand it.

Yeah, I took her too, but I never had the intent of hurting her. I just acted on impulse. But we all know that Flyboys didn't act on impulse. They come with plans programmed into their robot-heads, and they execute them. Heaven knows what the whitecoats who were in charge of them had in mind.

God, I just felt so horrible. This is why we don't tend to interact with many normal people: we just end up dragging them into our problems. And at the end of the day, somebody always gets hurt.

"We've got to go find her," I announced.

"Iggy…I know this sucks, but we have no way of—"

"Shut up, Max," I snapped, taking my guilt out on her for the time being. "Look. You always call the shots. I'm not saying that's necessarily bad—I mean, you're a great leader—but I'm going to make the decision for you this time. I dragged her into this, I've got to pull her out."

"You're right," Max said without skipping a beat, and for a second I was triumphant, thinking I'd won, but then she went on. "I _am_ a great leader, and the only one. And as the leader, I'm telling you that we can't just take off. They could have taken her anywhere."

"Yeah, but they probably took her to the School, so let's start there." I'd wanted to go to the School anyway, to see if I could figure out why I could see her in the first place. Two birds with one stone.

"Okay, _Leader Iggy_, you're saying we should just waltz right up and barge into the School?"

"No," I scoffed. "Alls I'm saying is that we should go to the School. You're in charge, so you can take it from there." She laughed humorlessly.

"All right, so you're the leader when there's a simple decision, but when you have to actually _think_, it's all on me?"

"I never said I was the leader," I said through grit teeth, my patience quickly evaporating. "We just need to do _something_. _Now_."

"Fine. Let's go." The door slammed shut, and the rest of the flock and I opened it and filed out behind her.

"Is it her time of month, or something?" I wondered out loud.

"It's your fault," Fang said from behind me.

"How is it my fault? Isn't that a biological thing?"

"No, dipshit, it's your fault that she's stressed out. Taking Shay put a lot of pressure on her." I thought about that for a few minutes.

"I said I'd take responsibility, though," I argued.

"This is _Max_ we're talking about. She takes responsibility for _everything_ that happens to this flock." I frowned to myself.

"Whatever. Wait, who even says dipshit anymore?" He sighed loudly before running forward to take off into the air. I followed, and soon we were all up and away.

Mesa was a quiet town, flying by quickly. I knew when we were approaching Phoenix based on the muted sounds of sirens, car horns, and the rest of the noises that accompany big cities.

Gazzy called to me to fly higher, and I angled upward until city sounds were hardly audible. Seconds later, they were gone all together. I flew in a peaceful silence, consumed in my own thoughts.

Why couldn't Max just let me be in charge of this one thing? Be responsible for this one girl? It would be less stress on her, and sure, it would be more on me, but I was willing to accept that. I started this, after all.

Aside from that, I couldn't help but feel increasingly guilty as time sped on. Where was Shay? What had they done to her? How did they find out I could see her? Why did they care? _Did_ they find out, or was there some other reason? It couldn't be a coincidence; nothing nowadays was a coincidence. So what did they want with her, then?

I considered the possibility that she was already associated with them, and that's why I could see her. That she was some sort of experiment, and they used her to test and see if I could see her. And then, once I took her, they wanted her back, so they sent the Flyboys to retrieve her.

But that just didn't seem to work, in my mind. Most of the people associated with Itex and the School are good actors, but I can usually tell when somebody's lying. Angel even scanned her mind when we first met. _And_ she was with her friends when I first saw her at Benji's. And, come on, her reactions to everything were just too authentic to be faked.

But you never know. I couldn't seem to find a better answer. Except, maybe somebody was stalking me. But that's creepy. I used to think I'd be flattered to be stalked, but now that I think about it, it's actually quite disturbing. Especially if it's one of those sketchy whitecoats.

"Really, Iggy?" Angel mumbled from next to me.

"Hmm?"

"_I used to think I'd be flattered to be stalked_? You're so weird. But anyway, I just wanted to say sorry." I cocked my head to the side (yeah, like a dog).

"For what?"

"You know. For not protecting Shay enough." I shrugged.

"It wasn't your fault."

"I should have been stronger," she muttered.

"It's fine, Angel. You did what you could," I reminded her.

"So…you're not mad?" I shook my head, and almost fell out of the sky when she awkwardly tried to throw her arms around me.

"Thank you Iggy! I promise I'll get her back for you, I _promise_."

"Can you persuade Max to think like you?"

"She's just upset because she didn't want Shay to get hurt because of it." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah. Because Max gives a damn about Shay herself," I retorted.

"You'd be surprised," Angel said ominously. "She's more genuine than you give her credit for." She flew away then, always having to have the last word. That's what she does, you know. She flies away because she wants you to think in depth about her last line, detect her hidden meaning and shit, all the while listening from in front of you.

"I heard that," she called back.

"See?"

"I'm confused!" Gazzy shouted, somewhere behind me.

"Don't eavesdrop," I replied.

"It's hard not to when you're shouting!"

"I'm sorry, Gaz, I'll try to keep it down for you next time."

"Iggy, shut up," Max snapped. I blinked. See what I mean? Somebody needs some Midol…

"Hey, I know you don't want me being a leader and whatever, but I can still _talk_—"

"No, I mean, we're here."

"Oh. All right."

"Descending in three." I braced myself; this _really_ had to work.

"Three…two…one." My heart was in my throat as I flew down, knowing that Shay could be suffering more with every flap of my wings, every beat of my pulse, and it was all because of me.


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter Seven_

-Shay's POV-

I glared relentlessly at everything in sight: the bars of the damn _cage_ they were keeping me in, the freaky looking…it…in the cage next to me, everyone who passed in my field of view. It's one thing to be kidnapped by a group of super-bird-children for unfathomable reasons; I was actually kind of starting to get used to them. But being kidnapped _from_ my kidnappers by someone even worse…now that's where I draw the line.

And being kept in a freaking cage…that's the most derogatory, condescending, inhumane, outright _horrible_ thing to do. Why did I deserve this? I was only in the wrong place at the wrong time! _Forgive me_ for going out to ice-cream.

There was a babble at the door, which I turned my glare to. In walked a truly disgusting-looking human being, but I might be biased. He had huge lips that were disproportional to the rest of his head, little black, beady eyes obscured slightly by bifocal lenses, and his hair was an ugly shade of brown, parted at the side. His appearance screamed _science-nerd_, while his manor bellowed _arrogant science-nerd_.

_Go die_, I thought spitefully.

"Miss Shaylah," he greeted like we were old friends. I rolled my eyes.

"First, it's _Shay_. Second, how the Hell do you know who I am? And finally, I don't know who you are, but your face looks like it's been squashed by a boot." I sat back, feeling like I just wasted my breath on this loser, because he was, indeed, an arrogant science nerd, and they don't like listening.

He shook his head slowly, like my anger was amusing. See what I mean? My words bounced off him like rubber.

"So you don't remember me, then?"

"Remember you? Trust me, if I ever met you, I'd remember you. And that's not a compliment." He sighed; maybe I was at least getting on his nerves a _little_ bit.

"Let's change the subject," he suggested.

"Nah, I could go on about what a scumbag you are all day."

"That's what you said the first time." I narrowed my eyes into little slits.

"Yeah, because I met you before and I can't remember, right?" He nodded, because this all made _perfect_ _sense_.

"We'll get to that. First, even though I doubt you will know what I'm talking about, your operation has been a complete success. You're a special girl, Shay, and it's wonderful that we've been able to utilize your potential. Now that the most dangerous experiment worked out, there's no limit to what we can do with you. The possibilities…they're endless. This could be revolutionary. The latest experiment was just one of many."

"You're fucked up." He sighed again, and unlocked the door to the cage I was being held in. I wanted to stay in an act of rebellion, but being able to stretch out was too much to resist. I'm only human, after all.

"Special as you are, you didn't come with manners," he scolded as I crawled out and relieved my aching muscles.

"I have manners, I just choose not to waste them on you."

"Anyway, Miss. Mathews—"

"How do you know my—"

"—I feel like I should explain. When you were born, your parents put you up for adoption." No shit, I thought, feeling the anger boiling up inside me. "We, however, saw your potential and took you from the adoption center. You were actually our only experiment that survived. See, at the time, it was our first attempt at altering blood types. We still don't have a formula down in stone, but you turned out okay."

"Trial and error, then?" I spat venomously.

"Precisely. At first, we simply changed you from blood type AB+ to O-. Permanently. It was a huge leap in the field of science, for as you probably know, O- is the universal blood donor."

"How would you do that?" I inquired, biting back my fury.

"We don't need to get into that. But anyway, you were very week after that operation was all over, and still less than a year old. We wanted to see if you were stable enough to last in the real world. We couldn't give you back to adoption, so we sent you to an orphanage, all the while keeping close tabs on you. Turns out, you survived with flying colors.

"You were a young child when we decided that you were, indeed, plenty stable and could continue experiments. You met Experiment 003, correct? Iggy, they call him?" My stomach knotted as he called Iggy Experiment 003. At least I had a name. Iggy was just a number here.

"Yes."

"We were working on improving it and the rest of the avian-human cross-breads when the idea came to us to enhance its vision." Now he wasn't even a number. Just an _it_. Repulsive. "Several minerals went into the formula that we believed would give him super vision, if you will. Obviously, it didn't work out. So, we thought, maybe injecting it into blood would help. We were wary of testing it on you, as you'd been such a success and we didn't want to damage our hard work, so we tested it on something else. It died." I was fully aware that this _it_ was probably some sort of human.

"So, we blended it with safer elements and chemicals and tried it on you. It didn't give you super-vision, sadly, but it did greatly enhance your blood. You might wonder why you scarcely bleed; it's modified so that you will never loose much of it unless it's drawn out of you."

"If I was a young child, how come I don't remember it?" He grinned.

"That's the best part. Have you ever seen Men in Black?" I nodded curtly, sensing where this was going. "We developed a device similar to the one they have, only bigger and more complex. We can take away periods of your memory and make it seem as though nothing happened. I can see that you still don't believe me, and that's okay."

"Can you just tell me why I'm here?"

"Well, a few years ago we added another chemical to your blood. AgNO2, or Silver nitrite. It's the same metal-salt they put in babies' eyes to prevent blindness at birth. Anyway, it reacted with your—"

He never got a chance to finish the sentence, because, of course, the wall burst open, and a hunk of cement hit him square in the face and knocked him out.

-Iggy's POV-

I have to say, the plan worked phenomenally, despite everybody's protests. It was very complex, you see. Gazzy and I made a small bomb out of the leftover metal and someone's car parts, and we blew a whole in the wall on the far side of the school. Very complicated, I know.

It was pure luck that we ended up in Shay's room. For once, karma was working with us, and there was only one whitecoat, who was taken out by the explosion. I saw Shay immediately, of course, and didn't think twice before snatching her up. This time, she didn't fight back. In fact, she was gazing up at me with the weirdest expression.

"This way Ig!" Max called as a million alarms sounded around us. I followed her voice quickly. "Up and away!" I shot out my wings and bolted up as fast as I could go with the extra baggage. I held Shay against me with one arm, trying to angel her in whatever way would increase my speed.

"Thank you!" She called over the roar of the wind whipping past. I was surprised to hear the words spill from her mouth in a non-spiteful way. Actually, I was surprised to hear _anything_ spilled from her mouth in a non-spiteful way.

"Anytime!" I replied. She tried to say something else, but it got lost in the screams of the wind. "Tell me when we land!" I shouted.

I wondered when that would be. Knowing Max, we would probably be flying at this speed for hours before we could even slow down. But hey, we just broke into one of our least favorite places on the planet, and there was no way we could get caught. It just wasn't happening.

As my body adjusted to the intense speed, my mind began to wander. I thought about the way Shay looked when we burst through the doors, the unending relief flooding her eyes. Her hair was sticky with sweat, sticking to her forehead, and I couldn't miss the way she was hunched over with her arms squeezed in as tight as they would go. Like she had been cramped up somewhere and hadn't gotten used to open space.

I shuddered, remembering the days of the cage. With the exception of Angel, who'd been small enough for the cage, we'd all had hunched backs for months, maybe even years. Our wings had been so accustomed to being tucked in that it stung a little every time we unfurled them slowly, and killed when we did so in a hurry.

If they'd treated Shay the way they'd treated us, especially because of me, I'd never forgive myself.

About a half hour later, Max gave us the okay to slow down a little, and after a few hours, we landed.

"Where are we?" I wondered.

"We're at a hotel," Max responded disdainfully. "Can you handle it?" I nodded, sullen.

"Can we trust you to walk in on your own, Shay?" Max asked. I watched the back of her head bob up and down. We headed inside and waited in the lobby while Max signed in, and I kept a close eye on the only thing I could see.

We eventually migrated to our conjoined rooms and gathered in one. It seemed like everyone was waiting for somebody to start talking, but we all seemed at a loss for words. Finally, I grew a pair and cleared my throat.

"I'm sorry," I said. "For everything. I shouldn't have kidnapped you in the first place. We can fly you home as soon as we rest." Shay stared at me, thinking for a long time. Finally, she smiled a sadly and shook her head.

"No way. I'm staying. You can't get rid of me that easily." Yes, the School _definitely_ screwed with her brain.


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter Eight_

**AN: Midterms are over, yay! I actually typed this up on my 'study' day yesterday (which I actually spent writing and baking cookies….whatever) but forgot to post it. Sorry! But I'm updating now, and that's got to count for something. Enjoy.**

Suffice to say, I was totally confused. Shay didn't even want to be with us in the first place, and after the whole kidnapping ordeal, you'd think we'd have to hold her down to keep her from bolting out the door. But no, she _wanted_ to stay. What had they done to her?

Max was the first one to speak. "Excuse me?" She exclaimed. Shay crossed her arms across her chest.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Okay, I'm sorry for whatever the School has done to you that's made you want to stay, but—"

"They didn't do anything to me. Well, this time, at least. I'll explain everything eventually, but for now all I can say is that I want to stick with you guys," Shay said with her trademark matter-o-fact tone. Then, quieter and more to herself than anyone, she added, "It's probably safer." Max thought for a moment.

"No. It's too much for me to worry about. We can't tote you around everywhere we go, at least not without you getting hurt again, or worse." For once, Shay didn't scowl or glare when things didn't go her way. Looking at her closely, she seemed a hundred years older than the last time I saw her. Dark bags hung under her eyes, and I could tell she was going to conk out at any second. Her whole being seemed to be drooping with a never-ending wave of exhaustion, like she was just done with everything.

"Why don't we sleep," I suggested before Shay could muster up the strength to argue. "We can talk about this tomorrow, when everybody's reasonably coherent." Personally, I wanted to sleep, too. I hadn't flown that fast for that long in a while, and my back and wing muscles were incredibly sore.

To my surprise, Max actually agreed with me. "Good idea, Iggy. Everybody, get some rest. We'll get everything situated tomorrow. And Shay…" We waited for what words would come out. I was about to walk away when Max said, "I'm sorry." Before anybody could comment further, she shuffled into the other room. I hurt the door slam shut with a thud.

Angel, Nudge and Fang soon followed her out, until it was just Shay, Gazzy and I in the room. I had so many questions pressing in my mind, pounding at my teeth and begging to be let out, but I repressed them. Shay was already tucking herself into a bed, her torso hidden by the covers. Whatever I wanted to say could wait until morning.

I took one last look at her before I shut my eyes and drifted off.

I woke up with a crick in my neck and aches all over. I opened my eyes…and there was nothing. No Shay. Immediately, I panicked. This was _not_ happening again.

"No, it's not," Angel said sweetly from somewhere right next to me. I jumped, not expecting her there.

"Where is she?" I asked warily.

"Down getting breakfast with Max and Fang. I think it's funny how scared you got, though." I didn't like the suggestive tone in her bright little voice.

"I'm just cautious," I grumbled, rising to my feet. I stretched out my limbs and inhaled deeply.

"I'm a star!" Gazzy joked from across the room. I rolled my eyes, not caring how ridiculous I looked. The intense flight from yesterday had certainly taken its toll; every muscle in my body was taut and sore, and stretching them as far as they'd go wasn't exactly pleasant.

"So…sore," I muttered.

"Yeah, I know," Gazzy agreed. "I feel like I got in a fight with a bear. And, you know, lost." I nodded, but even that hurt.

"I'm officially declaring today a lazy day," I announced, puffing out my chest in hopes it would make be look important.

"Max said we were going to move as soon as everything was figured out, though," Angel said, absolutely raining on my parade.

"Well, hopefully that's not today," I said before plopping back onto the couch/bed. I hadn't had the energy to pull out the bed part last night, so my laziness saved me the hassle of putting it back together again.

"Is it morning already?" Nudge mumbled. Mornings were mostly awful, but quieting Nudge was one of their more redeeming qualities.

"It's _been_ morning," Angel retorted.

"Ugh. How come mornings are so difficult? It's like, we just slept all night, so why can't I just wake up easier? Even at night when we have no energy it's easier to get up. And how come it's so _painful_ in the morning?" And there she goes again. Even the blanket of sleepiness brought by the early hours wasn't enough to shut of Nudge Channel.

She was still yapping away when I heard the door unlock, followed by a perfectly visible Shay carrying something that seemed to be too heavy for her, and covered up most of her torso.

Maybe it's annoying for you to hear me go on about her visibility _every_ time I see her, but suck it up. It's not something I can just get used to over night, or even over several nights. I doubt I'll ever get used to it, this one girl sticking out against an absent world.

Then, something even more incredible yet happened. The unfathomable. The unthinkable. Shay _smiled_ when she saw me. Like, the sides of her mouth actually curled upward, and her top row of teeth even peeked out. Oh my Lord!

"Morning!" She said with completely uncharacteristic cheeriness. I just blinked in astonishment. I found myself wondering who in the world she was. I mean, it had to be Shay, since I could see her, but other than that she was a totally different person. It made me wary. Had the School replaced her brain? Zapped her memory? Given back her soul?

"Morning," I mumbled in response, barely audible.

"I come bearing breakfast. Here, dig in." She sat next to me, and gestured at what must have been a platter of food.

_What's wrong with Shay?_ Angel asked me mentally.

_No idea_, I thought back.

Despite my suspicion, I couldn't deny my empty stomach. I found a bagel on the platter, and it was gone in seconds. From there, I just couldn't stop eating. I really hoped nobody expected me to save them anything.

Finally, a hint of familiar uncertainty crossed Shay's expression. "Hungry?" She asked sarcastically, and I swallowed the last of my breakfast eagerly.

"I'm always hungry," I replied easily, and to my surprise, she smiled again. At my expression, I assumed, her brow creased.

"Do I have something in my teeth?" She wondered, and I shook my head. She seemed genuinely confused.

"What's with the sudden mood change?" I blurted at last. Yes, I was going to be That Guy. She didn't seem offended, though. She just shrugged.

"I've got some explaining to do later," she said. "But the short of it is, I haven't given you guys a chance. I've resolved to change that." I raised my eyebrows, trying not to look so shocked.

"Well. You're a very…er…determined person." Shay smiled, pleased with herself.

"Why thank you," she retorted, and I simply nodded.

"No problem."

"So Shay," Max cut in. "Want to get to that explaining?"

"I guess so." She sighed tiredly but straightened her shoulders. "Where do I start?" It was a rhetorical question. She knew where to start.

"The bomb. I'll start at the bomb.

"So, you guys ran off. Angel told us to stay away from the windows, so we did. I never even saw the explosion, though, because a few seconds after you disappeared, a bunch of those robot things burst through the window. We fought, especially Angel, but there were too many. They duct-taped my mouth and tied up my hands and feet—which is really getting old. Stuffed me in an oversized burlap sack and flew off, but not before injecting me with sedative.

"When I woke up, I was in a freaking cage. Like, a dog crate. Steel bars and all."

"It's the School's luxury suite," Max muttered. Shay bit her lip.

"Anyway. It was so dark, cramped up in that little Hell hole." Tell me about it, I thought bitterly. "Then this ugly little loser came and let me out. He told me he'd been doing experiments on me since I was a baby, but I didn't remember because they have this Men in Black memory zapper thingy.

"This is where it gets interesting. He said they changed my blood-type first, and then let me go to see if I'd be okay in real life. Then they took me back and…" She stared at me, and I wondered what was coming next.

"They wanted to give me super vision, like they tried with you. But they put it in my blood instead of eyes, along with some other crap. It didn't give me super vision or whatever, but apparently it enhanced my blood. So, they let me go again. Cue the memory zapper.

"Then they did something else, more recently. It had to do with silver nitrite, the stuff they put in babies eyes. He never finished explaining because you guys showed up and saved me, but I think that's why Iggy can see me. There was a reaction of some sort, I don't know."

I frowned as I processed everything she'd said. I felt bad that she'd had to undergo stuff like we had all her life, too, but at least she didn't remember it. Unless, maybe she would prefer to remember. At least then, everything wouldn't come as such a shock to her. She would know to be on guard, in hiding, like we did. She would know she was in danger.

But I have to say, I felt a little bit of relief. It wasn't because of me that she'd been taken, and she wasn't evil. She was being experimented on before she met me, and would have been kidnapped whether she was with me or not. Not that I was happy about that or anything, but now I felt marginally less guilty.

And jeez. Shay had been through quite a lot, hadn't she? Crap injected into her bloodstream? The same crap that made me forever blind?

I almost wished that we'd rescued her a few seconds later. This whole thing would have been that much closer to unraveling. At least now I knew it had to do with silver nitrite, and her super blood, and some sort of reaction. There had to be more to it, though. After this reaction, what had happened? What had it done to her? Why could I now see her?

Were there others?

"Thank you, Shay," Max said softly, her voice loosing quite a bit of its edge. "And again…I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Shay mumbled. "I guess it's been going on since I was a baby."

"I know the feeling," I said, and she glanced at me.

"I guess that's why I felt bad about being such a bitch. I mean, being in that cage for a few hours was torture, let alone a whole childhood. It kind of put things in perspective, being there. You guys had to stomach that shit for a really long time. And that scientist guy was a total asshole. And then there was how they referred to you as numbers, and it just really got to me.

"Finally, there was the fact that even though I was a complete and utter bitch to you guys, you still risked your lives to come save me. So…thanks. And _I'm_ sorry."

I stared at her, feeling her sincere emotions, and wondering how she'd gotten so cool in such a short amount of time. I guess a trip to the School is a rather humbling experience.

"So you want to stay with us," I finally said. She nodded.

"Yeah, I do." I glanced in Max's direction, deciding not to grind her gears again.

"It's up to Max."

There was a pause, then, "Try not to blow our cover." I grinned, and so did Shay.

She was in.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Hey everybody! Sorry it's been some time since the last update, it's been pretty hectic. But now I'm on break, and I got the new M.R book, and it's all good **** This chapter's pretty short, but enjoy nonetheless.**

_Chapter Nine_

"So…what now?" I asked after we were all cleaned up and ready to go. Go _where_, though, was the question.

"Basically, we're just in hiding right now," Max answered. "I think we should try to lie low for a while, after what happened at the School. We have to keep out of the public eye and just hope that Itex won't find us."

"So, basically, we can go where ever we want, as long as nobody notices us?" I asked.

"Yep," Max replied. "Anybody have a preference of where we go?"

"Let's ask Shay," Nudge suggested. We all stared at Shay, and she looked pensive.

"Europe," she said after some thought. "Let's go to Europe."

Don't you think that flying in a plane while having wings is a bit redundant? Ironic, even? Being in the sky with your wings folded in is such a weird feeling. But whatever. Shay said Europe, so Europe it was.

"Can we go to Venice?" Nudge asked eagerly. "I want to ride on a gondola! That would be so cool. Wouldn't it be cool Max? And we can have some Italian guy singing to us, just like in the movies? Wouldn't that be _sooooo_ cool?"

"Our flight is to London," Max replied. She was sitting in the right isle of the plane, next to Fang. Nudge and Angel were across from her, our carry-ons in the empty seat next to them. Gazzy, Shay and I were in front of Nudge and Angel. "We'll get to Italy eventually."

"We've already been to England though," Nudge pouted.

"The boys haven't," Max pointed out. "We'll go everywhere, don't worry. We've got time on our side." They kept talking, but I stopped listening. We'd been on the plane pretty much all day, and my lids were starting to feel heavy.

"So Iggy," Shay said, interrupting my dazing.

"Hm?"

"You can see my clothes, right?" I glanced at her black t-shirt (stolen from the thrift shop donation box) and her jeans, and nodded. She looked thoughtful, and reached down to rummage through some things. She held a piece of paper against the bare skin on her arm, and I could see it. It had strange symbols on it, symbols I didn't understand.

"Can you see this?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Hm. But you can't see the marker in my hand, right?" I shook my head no. She thought for a minute, then shook her head. "I don't know. This confuses me."

"What's that, on the paper?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me. "Calligraphy?" Shay's brow furrowed, and she pointed to the writing.

"This?"

"Yeah. Those symbols." If you can see somebody's heart break through their eyes, than I just did. I didn't understand why until she spoke again, in a very quiet voice.

"That's English, Iggy," she murmured. I frowned and looked away into, you know, nothingness.

The plane was mostly quiet, except for Gazzy's obnoxious snoring next to me. Even Nudge had stopped talking by now. Shay touched my arm, and I slowly turned back to her.

"It says England," she whispered, pointing to a group of characters.

"I don't care what it says," I snapped icily. Her face fell.

"I just—"

"I don't freaking care what it says. Drop it." Shay's eyes narrowed at my harsh tone.

"I was just trying to be nice to you. You don't have to be such an ass about it."

"You feel _sorry_ for me," I muttered. "I can see it in your eyes." That was always my pet peeve, people feeling sorry for me. Pity wasn't my style.

"Well _excuse_ me," she hissed, turning her back to me.

I stared at the back of her head for a few minutes, her hair wound tightly into a single braid, her shoulders hunched. I'd made her really mad, just now. Hopefully the old Shay wasn't back.

I fell asleep shortly after, taking advantage of any opportunity to catch some z's.

In my dream, I could see. I was also invisible. I walked around aimlessly, trying to talk to people. They would glance around, all confused, wondering where I was.

I'd given up all hope of being seen by the time Shay showed up. "You can't see me," I said flatly. "I don't exist." She looked confused, staring right at me.

"Sure I can see you," she argued. "You're standing right in front of me."

"I…what?"

"Please do not stand up until the plane is completely stopped," Shay ordered as I drifted back to consciousness.

Gazzy was dragging me out of my seat as I woke up.

"Come on, we're leaving," he said.

"What's going on?" I asked, alarmed. "Plane on fire? Flyboys attacking?"

"Um, no. We're here." I glanced around at the passengers who were grabbing their luggage and filing out. I could have sworn I hadn't been out that long, but whatever.

"Come on, big guy," Shay said from my left, nudging me forward. She didn't seem all too mad, but with her, you never knew. The smallest things could set her off.

Our luggage consisted of a small knapsack for each of us. We don't really carry around a lot, what with the flying and all. I heard a crinkling sound and imagined that Max was trying to take all the airline food her bag would carry. I had a feeling we'd be living off peanuts and stale pretzels for quite some time.

"All right gang," Max said once most of the other passengers were gone. "Let's move out."

Max wasted no time once we were in the airport, guiding us through the crowd quickly. God, I _hated_ crowds. Loud noises, practically chaos? Yeah, not really cool for a blind guy. At least I had Shay now, though. If I got lost, I had someone to look for.

But it didn't look like I'd be getting lost any time soon, seeing as we were all but running through the masses of people.

Sooner than you'd think, we burst onto the damp London streets. The air was potently humid, and I already felt my hair beginning to rise. I heard several strands of conversation in heavy British accents. A clock ringing, jarringly loud. Engines revving, horns honking, all the joys of a big city.

Plus rain, I thought grimly as the clouds broke.

"This way," Max called from my right, and I followed, keeping my eyes locked on the back of Shay's shirt.

It was the kind of rain that made you forget what it was like to be dry. Water collected in my hair, ran down my forehead and nose, and crept into my mouth. Even as I wiped my face every few seconds with my drenched sleeve, the rain was everywhere, unavoidable.

"I hate this!" Shay shouted as we ran through the London streets. "I hate the rain! I wish it would just _stop_!"

And just like that, the rain ceased. The loud hammering of the water abruptly quieted, and everything seemed eerily quiet, despite the cars and voices and general city noises.

Shay looked up, genuinely confused. "Weird," she commented. "Must have been just one cloud, or something."

"But, it's not raining _anywhere_," Angel pointed out. "And the clouds above us are still pitch black."

"Okay, so who adapted a new power?" Max demanded. This may surprise you, but that sentence is not entirely uncommon. Everybody was silent.

"I think it was Shay," Angel put in. Silence, again.

"Me?" Shay finally sputtered. "I'm the only normal one here!"

"Iggy can see you though," Gazzy reminded her. "So obviously you're not normal." She gritted her teeth.

"I don't have any powers," she said strongly.

"But you were the one who wanted it to stop," Angel said.

"What are you talking about?" Shay sneered, but I could hear the desperate edge in her voice, like she doubted her sanity. "I love the rain. In fact, I miss it. I want it to rain right now!"

And with that, the downpour was back.

**AN: So who else went out on V-day to buy **_**Angel**_**? I don't want to give anything away for those of you for haven't gotten it yet, but it's amazing so far. [: **


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter Ten_

**AN: Hey guys! So, summer's just around the corner. Now, last year, my first summer with Fanfiction, I updated almost weekly. I'm taking on a lot more this summer (possible job, volunteering) but I'm going to try my darnest to update more frequently than in the school year. So that's my spiel. Here's some more action(:**

"Can you make it sunny?" Nudge asked. "I'm, like, so sick of crappy weather. I just really want a sunny day. A sunny, warm day. Is that too much to ask?"

"I told you," Shay said through clenched teeth. "I don't know how."

"You just need to will it," Angel began. "It's kind of like putting thoughts in peoples' heads, I think."

"I'm with Shay," Max cut in. "We really just need to keep inconspicuous right now. We don't know how many people saw the whole rain stunt, and we can't be drawing attention to ourselves. Plus," she added before Nudge could complain, "we need to let Shay figure this out. Up until just recently, she thought she was an average girl, and we ruined that for her. Give her some time to sort things out before you go requesting weather patterns."

"Thank you," Shay huffed. It had been a few hours since the whole discovering-Shay-was-Mother-Nature ordeal. We had ducked into a back alley for a few minutes to collect ourselves before heading off in search of food. We crashed a McDonalds and were now clustered together at a bus stop, waiting for the next double-decker.

We were planning on staying at the Novotel for the night, or however long we would be staying in London. The room Max had purchased, courtesy of that credit card we'd found in New York forever ago, had two queen sized beds, two single beds, and a couch: perfect for our bunch.

"Can we please ride on the top part?" Angel asked as the sound of a bus door opening was audible.

"Sure," Max replied, and we filed into the bus and up the stairs onto the top of the bus. Even though we were the first ones on at our stop, it was already quite crowded when we got on. Someone shoved me into a seat, and seconds later Shay was shoved on top of me.

"This is awkward," I grunted, struggling to scoot into the seat next to me.

"Sorry," she muttered. "These people are so inconsiderate." I managed to wrangle myself into the empty seat next to her, thank God.

"Hey Iggy," Gazzy called over the ruckus of the bus. "There are no seats left so can I please sit on your lap?"

"You're kidding, right?" I responded. I was answered when suddenly I had someone else on top of me.

"Gaz…"

"This is nice," he murmured. "Just me, and you, together in this bus seat…"

"Don't get any ideas," I hissed. I glanced over to see Shay smiling, _again_. So weird.

"How cute," she cooed.

"Don't worry," the Gasman said to Shay. "He's totally not my type. You can have him all to yourself." She looked away quickly, just as I pinched Gazzy's side. The incredibly feminine, high pitched sound he made in response made a little of my anger go away.

Just a little.

"Brat," I whispered.

"Hey, Ig, you know I had to say it. She was catching on!" He responded loudly. Shay's lips cracked into a small smile, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me.

"Don't worry—I won't tell a soul," she stage-whispered.

"While you're at it, don't tell anybody about the…you know…ellybay ancingday," Gazzy added.

"My lips are sealed," Shay said gravely. Suddenly, the bus jerked to a halt.

"Bloo'y traffic!" Some Brit called out from the seat in front of us.

"What's that?" Someone else cried.

"It's a beast!" A third exclaimed. "A beast!" I felt my veins chilling in anticipation.

"Flyboys?" I inquired.

"Um…" Gazzy hesitated. "Worse."

People began hastily making their way out of the bus. The seat behind us must have opened up because Max was now there.

"We need to get out of here," she said. "They're just ahead. If they get a hold of this bus, we're done for."

"But what if they're not here for us?" I wondered.

"Of course they're here for us," she snapped. "Us or Shay. Who else?"

"I don't know; we can't be the only escapees, right? Maybe there's a School around here somewhere." Max groaned.

"We can't take any chances. We'll file out of here with everyone else so as not to draw attention to ourselves, but if they start coming after us, it's up and away, okay?" I nodded as Shay, Gazzy and I forced ourselves out of the seat. We shuffled through the small isles with Shay in the front, followed by me, and finally Gazzy. I kept a hand on the back of Shay's shirt so that we wouldn't lose her in the crowd.

"We need a diversion," she muttered to me as we started for the stairs. Just then, she slipped off the top step. I managed to catch her, but I saw the way her face went bright red just before she turned back around. "That wasn't it."

"I might have an idea," I responded as we stepped onto the sidewalk to wait for the others. "But it might be a lot to ask."

"If it saves me from those scientist-assholes I'm up for anything." I whispered my plan into her ear quickly. Her brow furrowed.

"I don't know if I can," she said regretfully. She glanced briefly over her shoulder, to the mayhem that was downtown London. When she returned her gaze to me, she appeared grimly determined. "I'll try, though."

Once the rest of our gang had successfully left the bus, we began power walking in the opposite direction of the chaos. I stole a glimpse at Shay's face and found it incredibly concentrated.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake.

-Shay's POV-

Something seriously messed up was happening. As we spun around, every atom in me was concentrated with great precision. There was a large part of me that knew that this was not happening. It knew that things like this didn't happen, much less to boring nobodies like me, and was certainly unable to fathom what I was doing.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't have enough time to argue with my sanity.

Down the street, havoc was being wreaked on innocent civilians. Creatures similar to those 'Flyboys' that had kidnapped me were standing in the middle of the road, swatting away anybody that got too close. Except these guys were bigger, hairier, and oh yeah—they had teeth that reached their shoulders.

The worst part was that this was most likely all for me.

And so I was going to make them pay. That's the hard part.

It's weird to control the weather, you know. It's weird how I can just think something, will it to happen, and then—bang! It happens. There's this weird sense of power, this weird sense of confidence, that scares me most of all.

No, that was a lie. What scares me most of all is the end result. Like seeing the world split in half right before my eyes.

It was weird the way it happened, though. Although in my eyes it seemed to be in slow motion, it happened very quickly. The ground on either side of each beast-thing rapidly split in two, and the three of them fell through the cracks. People sought cover in any way they could, screaming and running and thrashing about. An empty car tipped on its side. But then, as quickly as it had happened, the ground closed up again.

The shaking ceased immediately. No colossal damage was done, physically, but the city had been turned on its side. It was a pop can effect—you shake it up, twist the tab, and everything explodes.

Children cried, clinging to their parents. Car horns honked. A fire-truck was heard in the distance. More honking. More crying. More screaming.

And _this_ was caused solely by me.

Vaguely, I was aware that a few of the calmer people in the crowd were staring at me. There was nothing I could do about it, though—my body was not mine right now. I was in another state, mentally, and I could not control my actions.

"Um, no! Not another seizure!" Iggy shouted. He thrust me over his shoulder, and we and the others were now racing down the sidewalk.

"No need to fear," Gazzy yelled as we ran. "She's an elliptical, happens all the time!"

"It's epileptic, dumbass," Iggy corrected. "An elliptical is an exercise machine."

"Uh, this whole running thing is cool," Nudge said. "But, like, Shay's shaking is starting to freak me out and I don't know how we're going to get into the hotel because they'll make her go to a hospital and we reeeeally don't like hospitals and they won't understand why she's—"

"Please, Nudge, stop," Max interrupted. "Here, Ig, duck into this alleyway." My eyes drifted shut, and I felt a glob of saliva begin to trickle down my chin. I was only aware now that I was shaking violently.

"All right, lay her down here. Shay, can you hear me?"

"Yeah," I said, but it didn't come out quite right.

"Is she possessed?" Angel's soft, innocent voice wondered.

"No, sweetie. I'm just not quite sure what she is at this moment…Why did she decide to do that?"

"Erm…" Iggy mumbled sheepishly.

"Iggy!" Max reprimanded.

"I said lightning! I said, 'maybe you can strike them with lightning', and she made a freaking earthquake!"

"What I don't get," Nudge said. "Is that she refused to give me a tad bit of sunshine, and then for you she shakes the whole gosh-darn planet. What gives?"

"Well our lives weren't at stake when you asked for sunshine," Max reminded her. "But right now, we have to get her to snap out of it. This is creeping me out."

"Shay," Iggy tried. "If you can hear us, open your eyes." Somehow I managed to regain control of my eyelids. I slowly lifted them to find six concerned birdkids leaning over me.

"Gazzy, Angel," Max said. "Hold down her feet. Iggy, grab her left arm; I have her right." They locked a hold on my appendages, and gradually I was able to control my body. The shaking finally stopped.

Nudge handed me a napkin, and I wiped all the spit crap off my face. Nobody spoke as I shifted into a sitting position: a task that seemed to take everything out of me.

"So…" Iggy murmured. "What, ah…what the heck was that?"

**AN: PS. Happy almost-Mother's day! **


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter Eleven_

**AN: Ah, the freedom of summer! I am free to write gushy cheesy Fanfiction chapters: yay!**

"…The city of London is still baffled by what has been described as a 'freak earthquake phenomenon.' Scientists are still searching for an explanation. It seems almost fantastic that the ground could split in such random places, and is it mere coincidence that it split just under the horrid beasts that appeared just before? Whatever the explanation, one thing is for sure: what we saw today has never been seen before. See the whole story online—" I shut off the TV, not in the mood to hear anymore. Max was closing the blinds of the large window that overlooked the city, as the rest of us lounged about the room.

None of us had yet recovered from the day's events; especially Shay. I was grateful that she wasn't convulsing or foaming at the mouth anymore, but she was still drained, anxious, and even a little skittish.

Right now, she was sitting next to me on the couch. I didn't know what the suite looked like, of course, but Max made me swear up and down that I wouldn't touch anything. I readily complied, having no desire to go anywhere for a while.

I remembered, as I looked at Shay's face, the first time I had actually been able to fly (without being hooked up to a machine). The freedom, the exhilaration, and the complete and utter terror had done a number on me—on all if us—and I remember collapsing onto my bed at our E house, so tired, but so hyped up on adrenaline that my eyes couldn't possibly shut.

I guessed that those feelings I'd had might bear resemblance to what Shay was feeling right now. Only, she'd caused a whole city to be worked up into a frenzy, so maybe she felt a little more…disgruntled.

The flock was more than happy to succumb to sleep, but Shay, volunteering to sleep on the couch, said she'd turn in later. I tried to sleep, but something in me refused to let go, and as a result, both Shay and I were up.

I watched her pace back for several minutes before I asked, in a hushed voice, if she wanted to walk around the hotel. Neither of us would be sleeping any time soon, and there was nothing we could do here without waking up the flock.

I slipped a jacket over my wings, and we left the hotel room to wander about. It was only about nine o'clock, and yet it felt like the middle of the night.

"This is crazy," Shay murmured after we'd been walking a few minutes in silence. I felt the soft hotel-hallway carpet beneath my feet as we walked wherever the halls took us.

"Welcome to my world." She shook her head. Now that I had the time, I looked at her more carefully. Her hair was sticking to her sweaty forehead, and her eyes seemed hollow. She looked something like she had right after we'd rescued her from the School, only a little different.

"Are you okay?" I asked. I wasn't really one for sensitivity, but it seemed like the right thing to say. She shrugged.

"I'm just a little overwhelmed," she admitted.

"You're not the first to be rendered breathless by my striking beauty," I assured her, inducing a characteristic eye-roll.

"_That's_ what it is." She sighed, a regretful emotion stealing her face. "It's just scary, you know, when you find out that everything you've known was nothing but a lie; that your whole life is somebody's science-experiment."

"At least that wasn't _why_ you came about," I pointed out.

"In a way, it's worse. I'm not saying my case is worse than yours, because it certainly isn't; but you were made on purpose. Somebody, somewhere, wanted you alive, for whatever reason. I was an accident. If it were up to whoever my parents were, I wouldn't be alive at all." I considered our Petri-dish theory, and then the people in Virginia who might have been my parents. My past was still up in the air.

"You know your parents gave you up for adoption, though—willingly. I could have been stolen from mine in the dead of night and I'll never know. Maybe they sold me, maybe they gave me away, maybe they wish I was still with them. I'll never know what my life could have been like."

"So it could have been better," Shay mused, "Or it could have been far worse. I actually believe that if the whitecoats had left me alone, I might have found a real family; I was still just a baby at the time. I could have been adopted by a nice couple, maybe have a few siblings. I never really knew about the whitecoats interfering—or remembered, rather—so the thought never occurred to me, but now that I know…well, they ruined my chance at happiness." I frowned. Somehow, we'd ended up sitting down somewhere; I presumed we were in a lobby or sitting area of some sort. I could hear the sound of an icemaker behind me.

"You're saying you've never been happy, your whole life?" I remembered the first time I saw her, when she was laughing with the ice cream all over her face. Wasn't that happy? The flock and I had some pretty crazy times, but through it all, there were plenty of times when we were purely, genuinely happy. I couldn't imagine a life without that.

"Well…I've had happy moments, but at the end of the day, I end up back in a group home or foster home, alone as ever." I stared at her face, as candid and sober as I'd ever seen it, and tried to envision what my life would be like without the flock—blind or not blind. Even when we broke up into groups I felt like half of me was missing; what if I was alone? I don't think I could bear it, not having these people around me all the time.

I didn't realize until just then that I'd been taking everybody for granted.

"Is that why you wanted to stick with us?" I asked. I recalled the way she'd tried so hard to get away, and then the next day she was totally chill with everything.

"I guess," she mumbled. I waited for more, which came shortly after. "What you guys have, it's something I always wanted. When I sat in my bed at the foster homes, I'd just wished there was someone I could relate to; but even in the foster homes there were cliques and social groups that I didn't fit into. I just wanted someone who could look me in the eye and be like, 'yeah, me too.' You guys have that."

For a while, we just sat there as I let her words soak in. What would it have been like if I hadn't had the flock with me through those atrocious times at the School? Or afterward, after Jeb left us, when all we had was each other. If I hadn't had them with me…I don't know what would have happened to me.

I wasn't sure what else to say. What could I possibly say that would atone for her whole past? So the silence dragged on, and the two of us were left to contemplate all that had happened lately.

Finally, I thought of something unrelated, and what I thought was a lighter subject, that I'd always wondered the answer to.

"Why did you take seven self-defense classes?" When Shay looked at me, something in her eyes had switched. They had been gradually softening this whole conversation, but now she looked closed-off all over again.

"We can talk about that another time," she said brusquely.

"But I—"

"Another time. I'm going back to the room." She got up quickly, and I had no choice but to follow if I didn't want to get lost.

I wondered why self-defense classes were such a touchy subject. She'd just told me about her innermost feelings, about life at a foster home; weren't we past this?

I had the door key, so when we got to our room, she had to wait outside it for me. I raised my eyebrows at her.

"I'm sorry," she muttered reluctantly. "It's just not something I like to talk about." I nodded, as this would suffice for me, and unlocked the door.

As I settled down for sleep, I tried to figure Shay out. I thought about the little things that set her off, the lonely life she had, the things she'd gone through that she can't even remember. Maybe I was blind, was raised in a lab, didn't know my parents, and was constantly on the run, but the makeshift group of people I called a family made me more fortunate than so many other, non-lab-rat people.

But I might just turning into a total cheese-ball.

**AN: So, this chapter was more of a filler, to get you to see a little bit more of what Shay's life is like. I apologize if it felt too cheesy, but we need a few chapters like this to keep the story going, right? Let me know what you thought of it. (:**


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